As a third England cricketer prepares to leave Australia before the end of the tour, George Bailey has said that there is a sense of pride in the home camp over the hostile environment they have created during the summer which has made the visitors feel uncomfortable.

Steven Finn joined Graeme Swann and Jonathan Trott as players who have been unable to complete the tour although all three are for differing reasons. Trott's stress-related illness was a long-term issue that came to a head in Brisbane and has been treated with the understanding and respect that it has a wider significance than sport. Swann, meanwhile, opted to cut his tour short, and end his career, following the third Test in Perth after revealing his elbow was no longer up to the task of Test bowling, while Finn has endured a torrid time since arriving in Australia as his confidence hit an all-time low.

Yet, even many of those who completed the Test series finished with battered reputations, something the one-day squad and now trying to ensure does not happen to them. There is little sympathy emanating from the Australian players - although perhaps a little empathy into what tours-gone-bad can do to a squad - about the problems England have had over the last two-and-half months.

"We take a little bit of pride in it," Bailey said. "I guess in terms that we are making it so uncomfortable for guys whether that's through form or fitness. I don't think any of them are related and it could just be a coincidence that three have happened to do that. In the way we've played and the intensity and the media build-up of a series, it has been pretty big. There's no doubt there's been a lot of scrutiny.

"I think it is always challenging when you are a long way from home and from family and the things you know. With the shoe on the other foot we've been in that situation before and know how challenging it is. For us to have that advantage to be at home and to see our loved ones and to be in pretty comfortable surroundings, that's probably something that is fortunate for us."

The challenge is not going to get any more comfortable for England, either, with the return of Mitchell Johnson in Brisbane and he will no doubt be quick to remind those batsmen who faced him in the Test series about their problems. It was at the Gabba, on the fourth evening as Australia were closing in on victory, that the atmosphere in the middle involving Johnson, Bailey and Michael Clarke became fierce - Clarke ended up with a fine for his words to James Anderson - and there was a concerted effort throughout the series to keep England under pressure with words as well as deeds.

Bailey spent long periods of time perched at short leg and was often central to what was said in the middle but believes too much has been made of the confrontations.

"I'm sick of the sledging stuff to be honest. Just because you're aggressive, that seems to be a thing that everyone jumps towards. There's always stuff that's going to be said, I wouldn't read into the fact that just because there's two guys talking out there every time that they're ripping each other's heads off. There are a lot of blokes out there who get a long pretty well. There's a lot of times that you're having a joke or talking about plenty of things. The aggressive way we play is a mantra that is as much about the cricket as opposed to everything else."

The words 'aggressive' and 'attacking' were at the forefront when Bailey was discussing how Australia want to play their one-day cricket as they build towards the World Cup. "We hope that it is a brand of cricket that will take us onwards and upwards," he said. "We hope it's a type of cricket that will not only be good enough for England in this series but will be good enough for the world come February next year."

Bailey expects that other teams will watching closely, working out how they will tackle the variety of conditions provided for one-day cricket in Australia and offered a token note of encouragement towards England.

"I would be surprised if all teams aren't starting to have one eye on their planning and to get their squad and team balance right," he said. "England probably have a slight advantage in they get to play a five-game series this close to it."

That, though, was as close as it came to support from Australia to England.

@oze13 Can Bailey walk the talk? For ODI's go check his efforts in the last series in India & then give yourself an uppercut.

on January 17, 2014, 2:59 GMT

@RednWhiteArmy. And what was the result last time Australia played England at soccer? (For those who can't be bothered checking it was 3-1, and not in England's favour :)...)

Looch
on January 17, 2014, 2:31 GMT

Geez Rednwhitearmy, you've given us some lame excuses lately but that one is your best effort yet, by giving up on cricket and referring to a completely different sport! That does not sound like the behaviour of the "greatest supporters in the world"! By the way, which particular form of football are you referring? Is it Rugby Union football, Rugby League football, Australian football, Gaelic football, American football, Canadian or Association Football. You know what Association football is, don't you? It's that game that England hasn't won any international competition for the last 48 years.

xtrafalgarx
on January 17, 2014, 1:55 GMT

@Oze13: 4th ranked ODI batsman in the world says he can.

Shaggy076
on January 17, 2014, 1:44 GMT

oze13, Yevghenny; Not sure how you have come up with your conclusions. Bailey has just shown respect for England by saying they will continue to go hard, which is treating the opponent with the utmost of respect. He has not sledged anyone, has not put down England cricket, as such he has not talked the talk just answered some questions respectfully and with honesty.

jetdragon
on January 17, 2014, 1:31 GMT

Cpt - there are very many English who continue to support our team thru the bad times.

Fact is England were very very poor throughout the series - one can find many excuses if you try - poor preparation etc but bottom line is they have not performed.

Izzidole - regarding the sourcing of talent - Australia in general can't really throw stones - you too are quick to recruit imports if it suits in other sports - Dokic, Tsu, Gregoriava, Ahmed et al - you're happy to call them Aussies once the passport is granted!!

electric_loco_WAP4
on January 17, 2014, 0:58 GMT

On subject of soccer Eng are 1 of best and sure s/finalists in coming WC,even a chance of being in final.Bef. being runner up to WC champs Brazil of course.Dont see Eng make past 1st round in cricket WC in Aus though where Aus will be champs for 5th time.

SpartansAreWe
on January 17, 2014, 0:56 GMT

@Cpt.Meanster. Actually, the most popular or "primary" sport in Australia, by most useful indicators, is football. For our non-Australian friends, by that I mean Australian rules football, not soccer. Rugby's popularity is really limited to the states of New South Wales and Queensland. And we're certainly the best in the world at what we call "football".

redneck
on January 17, 2014, 0:24 GMT

@RednWhiteArmy haha beat you at 'football'? we already have! last time the FA granted us a friendly against england at home in 2003 we rolled you 3-2. since then your FA's too scarred to give us a re-match!!! infact if you poms were any good at any sport we wouldnt have had to go off and invent our own football code just to see a decent contest!

Moppa
on January 16, 2014, 23:36 GMT

Incidentally, @Yevghenny provides yet another example of an error many commenters make on this site - confusing the editorial comments made by the author of the article and the arguments actually made by the player being quoted. People need to understand the process at work here: 1) media demands a conference about not much to get between match material to fill column inches; 2) player spouts a few fairly bland cliches; 3) columnist desperately tries to mash those quotes into an argument or point of interest; 4) sub-editor gives the article as attention-grabbing a headline as possible 5) readers of cricinfo mix up the columnist's opinions (which may or many not be controversial) or the sub-editors inferences with those of the player. If we're going to make posts attacking the opinions of players, people, can we at least bother to read and understand the article and what the player actually said?

Chris_P
on January 17, 2014, 4:01 GMT

@oze13 Can Bailey walk the talk? For ODI's go check his efforts in the last series in India & then give yourself an uppercut.

on January 17, 2014, 2:59 GMT

@RednWhiteArmy. And what was the result last time Australia played England at soccer? (For those who can't be bothered checking it was 3-1, and not in England's favour :)...)

Looch
on January 17, 2014, 2:31 GMT

Geez Rednwhitearmy, you've given us some lame excuses lately but that one is your best effort yet, by giving up on cricket and referring to a completely different sport! That does not sound like the behaviour of the "greatest supporters in the world"! By the way, which particular form of football are you referring? Is it Rugby Union football, Rugby League football, Australian football, Gaelic football, American football, Canadian or Association Football. You know what Association football is, don't you? It's that game that England hasn't won any international competition for the last 48 years.

xtrafalgarx
on January 17, 2014, 1:55 GMT

@Oze13: 4th ranked ODI batsman in the world says he can.

Shaggy076
on January 17, 2014, 1:44 GMT

oze13, Yevghenny; Not sure how you have come up with your conclusions. Bailey has just shown respect for England by saying they will continue to go hard, which is treating the opponent with the utmost of respect. He has not sledged anyone, has not put down England cricket, as such he has not talked the talk just answered some questions respectfully and with honesty.

jetdragon
on January 17, 2014, 1:31 GMT

Cpt - there are very many English who continue to support our team thru the bad times.

Fact is England were very very poor throughout the series - one can find many excuses if you try - poor preparation etc but bottom line is they have not performed.

Izzidole - regarding the sourcing of talent - Australia in general can't really throw stones - you too are quick to recruit imports if it suits in other sports - Dokic, Tsu, Gregoriava, Ahmed et al - you're happy to call them Aussies once the passport is granted!!

electric_loco_WAP4
on January 17, 2014, 0:58 GMT

On subject of soccer Eng are 1 of best and sure s/finalists in coming WC,even a chance of being in final.Bef. being runner up to WC champs Brazil of course.Dont see Eng make past 1st round in cricket WC in Aus though where Aus will be champs for 5th time.

SpartansAreWe
on January 17, 2014, 0:56 GMT

@Cpt.Meanster. Actually, the most popular or "primary" sport in Australia, by most useful indicators, is football. For our non-Australian friends, by that I mean Australian rules football, not soccer. Rugby's popularity is really limited to the states of New South Wales and Queensland. And we're certainly the best in the world at what we call "football".

redneck
on January 17, 2014, 0:24 GMT

@RednWhiteArmy haha beat you at 'football'? we already have! last time the FA granted us a friendly against england at home in 2003 we rolled you 3-2. since then your FA's too scarred to give us a re-match!!! infact if you poms were any good at any sport we wouldnt have had to go off and invent our own football code just to see a decent contest!

Moppa
on January 16, 2014, 23:36 GMT

Incidentally, @Yevghenny provides yet another example of an error many commenters make on this site - confusing the editorial comments made by the author of the article and the arguments actually made by the player being quoted. People need to understand the process at work here: 1) media demands a conference about not much to get between match material to fill column inches; 2) player spouts a few fairly bland cliches; 3) columnist desperately tries to mash those quotes into an argument or point of interest; 4) sub-editor gives the article as attention-grabbing a headline as possible 5) readers of cricinfo mix up the columnist's opinions (which may or many not be controversial) or the sub-editors inferences with those of the player. If we're going to make posts attacking the opinions of players, people, can we at least bother to read and understand the article and what the player actually said?

Moppa
on January 16, 2014, 23:16 GMT

@Yevghenny, Bailey doesn't mention Finn at all. The only tenuous connection one could make is from the "form or fitness" comment. However, I suspect he's more talking about Cook, Root, Prior, Swann etc. If you're looking for outrageous or disrespectful comments from George Bailey, you'll be left clutching at straws.

DenF
on January 16, 2014, 22:53 GMT

The debate about football sems a little uninformed. Despite what has been said by my countrymen, inn Australia we are proud of our recent World Cup performances and the team gets great support; we have an active and high class domestic competition (that is currently underway) ... and we now call it Football. But if RednWhite Army looks at Australia v England games I think that he will find that we have a recent win. I was in England working at the time and I well remember a fellow Australian plastering our workplace with the 3-2 scoreline.

ShutTheGate
on January 16, 2014, 22:46 GMT

@ Oze13, Bailey is a novice in tests but is experienced in limited overs formats.

I think this article demonstrates that George is a lot more articulate than David Warner. Who tried to say something along the same lines after Brisbane and got himself into trouble.

dunger.bob
on January 16, 2014, 22:03 GMT

@ oze13 : Bailey is our ODI captain when Clarkes not available. Of course he's got something to say. The man has a mouth and a brain and knows how to connect them. .. Some posters on here should try it.

__PK
on January 16, 2014, 21:40 GMT

Creating a hostile environment, Yevghenny. He goes on to say he doesn't think it's related to those players going home. Read the article.

markatnotts
on January 16, 2014, 21:06 GMT

@Cpt.Meanster, there are far more than 4 or 5 teams better at association football than us. We have been more successful at cricket and rugby union in the 21st Century despite both being relative minority sports compared to football!

GrindAR
on January 16, 2014, 20:58 GMT

izzidole: your last sentence makes the reflection of reality that eng cricket faces now. When the cricket is open up for the world beyond a bunch of countries, eng has to hide and become invisible in main scene. But do they let that good thing happen to the game cricket? I dont see a light so far....

markatnotts
on January 16, 2014, 20:56 GMT

@izzidole, there speaks the voice of Knowledge of the game in England - 25 first class counties? Who are the 7 I don't know about? Yes Redwhitearmy is wrong to bring up football but to say we are stealing players left right and centre is just deluded. Most examples you would undoubtedly come up with are people born outside England who came here as children and as such are products of the system. As for the Irish players do you really not see that they were beneficiaries of our system?

Cpt.Meanster
on January 16, 2014, 19:32 GMT

@RednwhiteArmy: Nice excuse, keep it up. As if you are even good at soccer. We all know how hyped up English soccer is. Before you go around asking Australia to improve in 'football' which in itself is a minority game for them (rugby is the primary sport), perhaps you need to ask your soccer team to first of all improve in taking penalties. Cause, that's where England come back home every championship. Also, I hope you don't forget that there are at least 4 or 5 teams better than England in soccer. So quit giving such poor excuses for your cricket team's losses. Weren't you one of the many English fans beating their chests when England were playing decently 2 years ago ? Support your team at any cost and encourage them.

oze13
on January 16, 2014, 18:47 GMT

For someone who is a novice at international level he's certainly got a lot to say for himself both on and off the field. But can he walk the walk? He'll certainly cop it if he can't!

Yevghenny
on January 16, 2014, 14:29 GMT

Tim, what do you think he was talking about taking pride in before directly referring to the 3 people who have left the tour?

on January 16, 2014, 12:54 GMT

"Bailey is taking credit for sending Finn home?"

Can you show me the quote where Bailey has said this?

izzidole
on January 16, 2014, 12:49 GMT

RedWhiteArmy: Even with so many overseas imports if you cannot win against a meagre population of 23 million people then surely you should give up the game and concentrate on your football which you say that you are good at.. Unlike in Britain football otherwise known as soccer in Australia is not a very popular sport here. There are about 25 county teams playing cricket in the UK whereas there are only six state cricket teams involved in the sport here. First of all you should look for cricketing talent in your own backyard than steal talented cricketers from other countries like South Africa, Ireland, Zimbabwe, West Indies and even your current enemy Australia. You have become a laughing stock in world cricket and the ashes whitewash is the final nail in the coffin for english cricket.

on January 16, 2014, 12:39 GMT

@RednWhiteArmy we'd love to embarrass you at football as well, but the rest of the world seems to be doing that anyway.

on January 16, 2014, 12:26 GMT

@RednWhiteArmy - I'm English and I disagree completely... You're clearly hurt by our Cricket teams performance just like I am. Stop looking for excuses and except the fact we were appalling on this tour by deflecting the subject to football. At the end of the day, the best CRICKET team will win the next Ashes, it's got nothing to do with wanting to hurt England with football results. I love cricket and I"M HURTING!!!!

geoffboyc
on January 16, 2014, 11:26 GMT

I think George might be a bit more circumspect in advance of his possible encounter with SA's non-aggressive bowlers ; even the England attack never got into proper sledging mode with him because generally he wasn't at the crease long enough to get them warmed up.

Yevghenny
on January 16, 2014, 9:50 GMT

Bailey is taking credit for sending Finn home? Finn hasn't played a game since the 1st test in England! I'd say this will come back to bite him one day, but that would be presuming he still has a test career after his tour of South Africa

Shaggy076
on January 16, 2014, 9:26 GMT

Rednwhitearmy; No one is better than us at football.

RednWhiteArmy
on January 16, 2014, 9:03 GMT

Id love to say the England fans will give it back to australia in 2015 but cricket is pretty much a minority sport in England. If you aussies really wanna hurt English people properly, you'll have to dramatically improve at football.

dunger.bob
on January 16, 2014, 8:11 GMT

That's all great, don't get me wrong, but we now need to start making life uncomfortable for our hosts when we're not at home. Lot's of posters are keen to remind us that everyone plays well at home but only the best teams can win away. .. You know what you've gotta do fella's.

Re. this one day series. We should win, but I've got a feeling we're going to struggle for some reason. i guess we'll see.

No featured comments at the moment.

dunger.bob
on January 16, 2014, 8:11 GMT

That's all great, don't get me wrong, but we now need to start making life uncomfortable for our hosts when we're not at home. Lot's of posters are keen to remind us that everyone plays well at home but only the best teams can win away. .. You know what you've gotta do fella's.

Re. this one day series. We should win, but I've got a feeling we're going to struggle for some reason. i guess we'll see.

RednWhiteArmy
on January 16, 2014, 9:03 GMT

Id love to say the England fans will give it back to australia in 2015 but cricket is pretty much a minority sport in England. If you aussies really wanna hurt English people properly, you'll have to dramatically improve at football.

Shaggy076
on January 16, 2014, 9:26 GMT

Rednwhitearmy; No one is better than us at football.

Yevghenny
on January 16, 2014, 9:50 GMT

Bailey is taking credit for sending Finn home? Finn hasn't played a game since the 1st test in England! I'd say this will come back to bite him one day, but that would be presuming he still has a test career after his tour of South Africa

geoffboyc
on January 16, 2014, 11:26 GMT

I think George might be a bit more circumspect in advance of his possible encounter with SA's non-aggressive bowlers ; even the England attack never got into proper sledging mode with him because generally he wasn't at the crease long enough to get them warmed up.

on January 16, 2014, 12:26 GMT

@RednWhiteArmy - I'm English and I disagree completely... You're clearly hurt by our Cricket teams performance just like I am. Stop looking for excuses and except the fact we were appalling on this tour by deflecting the subject to football. At the end of the day, the best CRICKET team will win the next Ashes, it's got nothing to do with wanting to hurt England with football results. I love cricket and I"M HURTING!!!!

on January 16, 2014, 12:39 GMT

@RednWhiteArmy we'd love to embarrass you at football as well, but the rest of the world seems to be doing that anyway.

izzidole
on January 16, 2014, 12:49 GMT

RedWhiteArmy: Even with so many overseas imports if you cannot win against a meagre population of 23 million people then surely you should give up the game and concentrate on your football which you say that you are good at.. Unlike in Britain football otherwise known as soccer in Australia is not a very popular sport here. There are about 25 county teams playing cricket in the UK whereas there are only six state cricket teams involved in the sport here. First of all you should look for cricketing talent in your own backyard than steal talented cricketers from other countries like South Africa, Ireland, Zimbabwe, West Indies and even your current enemy Australia. You have become a laughing stock in world cricket and the ashes whitewash is the final nail in the coffin for english cricket.

on January 16, 2014, 12:54 GMT

"Bailey is taking credit for sending Finn home?"

Can you show me the quote where Bailey has said this?

Yevghenny
on January 16, 2014, 14:29 GMT

Tim, what do you think he was talking about taking pride in before directly referring to the 3 people who have left the tour?